Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The City of Bridgeton, New Jersey: Its Settlement and Growth Its Attractions Its Industries Its Advantages as a Manufacturing Site, Sixty-Two Illustrations, 1889
The first bridge over the Cohansey, at Commerce street, built about 1716, had no draw. The latter was finally secured after a long dispute between John Moore White and the free holders. Stone abutments were put under the bridge in 1799, and the bridge was built on piles and raised much higher. A new bridge was erected in 1849, and the present handsome iron structure built in 1875. An enumeration of the inhabitants made in 1792, showed that they numbered 300. In 1800 the town had grown to some importance. It was the business centre of the county, and much wood and produce was shipped to Philadelphia and Other points by water. The most influential citizens and busi ness men at that time were Dr. Jonathan Elmer, Ebenezer Seeley, Jonathan Bowen, Col. David Potter, Dr. Samuel M. Shute, James Burch, Zachariah Lawrence, Enoch Boon, John Moore White, General James Giles. A number of substantial wharves were built along the river about this time. The Court House stood in the middle of Broad street, and was a quaint, Old - fashioned edifice. Up to the year 1800 there were a number of slaves in Bridgeton, black persons being held as chattels in New Jersey. In 1804 the Legislature passed an act for the gradual abolition of slavery, so that the number thereafter decreased continually. In 1830 there were still two persons owned as slaves, but with their death emancipation in this State became complete. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
